Last year we saw independently-owned eateries and restaurants closing their doors for good, unable to see the way forward financially after months of little-to-no income and a future with more questions than answers.
It’s no secret that the restaurant industry was one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic as social distancing regulations closed down restaurants and bars in March.
Joining the list of restaurants that are closing down is one of Cape Town's most loved eateries, La Tête.
Owners Giles and James Edwards released a statement on social media this week announcing the sad news.
They said despite great determination to see themselves through this prohibitive time, they could honestly say that they had tried every avenue - to no avail.
“We are devastated to announce that La Tête will be closing its doors in the first week of February.
“Most of the team have been with us either from the beginning, or through many seasons. The issue of leaving our amazing team of 16 staff without employment weighs heavily on our hearts. Regretfully, it is out of our hands. I would like to thank each one of you for your hard work, skill and dedication which has kept our dream alive over the years. I could never have imagined such an abrupt end to it all.
“We would also like to thank each of our suppliers - farmers, growers, fishermen, winemakers, distributors, who have delivered produce and wine with so much passion, time and time again. Without you, La Tête could not have been what it is.
‘Patrons, thank you for all the support and good times over the years. Please join us for one last hurrah in these last few weeks as we say goodbye. We will be serving some of our favourite dishes for our final weeks of trading. Our last service will be dinner on Saturday, February 6... and we hope to see many of you over these last few weeks,” read the post.
Last week, Dineplan, a company used as a reservation management platform by thousands of restaurants, pulled statistics to get an idea of the pain restaurants are feeling under level 3 of the lockdown.
It compared the number of bookings, diners, no-shows, cancellations and estimated total revenue lost this month compared with the same time last year.
The company said the results spoke volumes, quite literally.
“Only taking into account restaurants in SA’s big cities - Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban - the data indicates that the number of diners has plummeted this month by a whopping 60.1% year-on-year.
“The number of bookings declined by a lower, but still huge 51.52%, meaning that the average number of diners per booking has decreased.
“This makes sense as diners try to decrease the number of people they socialise with.
“With the ban on booze, the average spend per head will also have crucially dropped, resulting in a loss of revenue significantly more than the 60% drop in the number of diners.
“It is clear to see why so many restaurants have been unable to keep their doors open this year, leading to large-scale job losses and knock-on effects to suppliers.
“A small silver lining is that no-show rates (diners who book and do not pitch) have decreased, suggesting that diners have become more conscious of the hardships faced by restaurants during the lockdown.”
According to the reservation company, in Cape Town, the number of bookings decreased by 50.9% and the number of diners by 59.9%.